Your (un)fair advantage

Adams & Adams client succeeds in action against counterfeiters
7/08/2008

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The South African Police Service has, in co-operation with well-known brand owners represented by Adams & Adams attorneys in South Africa, successfully prosecuted Papa Diop and Wide Road Import & Export CC for respectively dealing in and importing counterfeit goods in contravention of the Counterfeit Goods Act.

Diop was convicted of seven counts of contravening the Counterfeit Goods Act and was sentenced to a fine of R1 500 or one year’s imprisonment. He was also sentenced to two years’ imprisonment suspended for five years on condition that he is not convicted of contravening the Counterfeit Goods Act again within the period of suspension.

Wide Road Import & Export CC has been sentenced to a fine of R15 000.

The Counterfeit Goods Act provides that goods which are the result of counterfeiting may not be imported into the Republic of South Africa unless they are imported for the domestic and private use of the importer. Counterfeit goods may not be found in the possession or under the control of any person in the course of business with the purpose of dealing in those goods. Neither may they be sold, hired out, bartered or exchanged or be offered or exposed for sale, hire-purchase or exchange.

Any of the abovementioned activities stand in contravention of the Counterfeit Goods Act and will lead to civil and criminal liability.

Brand owners are making a concerted effort, on an international level, to combat the counterfeit goods market, which many believe is a source of income for the furtherance of serious crimes such as drug dealing, prostitution and human trafficking.

The speedy conviction of counterfeiters such as Papa Diop and Wide Road Import & Export CC by the state is a victory in the war against the infiltration of counterfeit products into the South African market.

Charne le Roux
Partner
Adams & Adams
CLR@adamsadams.co.za

Theuns van de Merwe
Associate
Adams & Adams
Theuns-V@adamsadams.co.za
  Related Act Counterfeit Goods Act no. 37 of 1997
To introduce measures aimed against the trade in counterfeit goods so as to further protect owners of trade marks, copyright and certain marks under the Merchandise Marks Act, 1941, against the unlawful application, to goods, of the subject matter of their respective intellectual property rights and against the release of goods of that nature (called "counterfeit goods”) into the channels of commerce.
Download act 		  Featured Case Law Promotional Competitions under the Consumer Protection Act
For just over a decade, promotional competitions have been regulated by the Lotteries Act, 1997, which has been in effect since 1 March 2000. Attorneys, in-house counsel and other legal practitioners have become used to advising on the legality of promotional competitions with reference to section 54 of the Lotteries Act and the regulations promulgated under that section. But when the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (“the CPA”) comes into force on 31 March 2010, as expected, the regulation of promotional competitions in South Africa will change significantly.

The CPA will replace the Lotteries Act’s current definition of “promotional competition”. In future, section 1 of the Lotteries Act will define a “promotional competition” as having the meaning set out in section 36 of the CPA. 		  Related People Charné le Roux
Partner
Trade Mark Attorney
Tel: +27 (0) 21 418 8560
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The firm practises directly in several Southern African countries and through long-established associates in others.